A special court here on Wednesday charged Moninder Singh Pandher with rape and murder of a young woman even as it questioned the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for exonerating him while probing the killings of at least 20 children and young women in Nithari village.
“Special Judge Rama Jain of the designated CBI court gave directions to charge Pandher with raping and murdering Payal, a 20-year-old woman, at his D-5 Nithari residence in Noida,” said Khalid Mohammed, counsel of the families of the victims.
“Pandher was charged on the basis of the police case diary in which Dinesh Yadav, then circle and investigating officer, had recorded his confessional statements of raping and killing Payal, a girl who was said to be prostitute,” Mohammed added. Pandher had reportedly told the police that Payal was blackmailing her and in order to get rid of her, he along with his servant Surinder Koli had killed her.
On July 2, the court had found suspended official Yadav “prima facie accused” for concealing the case diary and also issued his production warrant.
“After hearing the testimony of Payal’s father Nand Lal who saw the official accepting bribes, the court finds them prima facie accused in the case and issues non-bailable warrant against him,” the judge had said.It was Payal’s murder that had led to the unravelling of the butcheries in Nithari.